Diary Study Template

What This Template Is For

Most research methods capture a single moment. Interviews reveal what users remember. Usability tests show how users perform under observation. Neither captures what users actually experience over days or weeks in their natural environment. Diary studies fill that gap. Participants record their experiences as they happen, giving you unfiltered data about real workflows, frustrations, and workarounds that surface only over time.

This template provides a complete diary study protocol: study design, participant recruitment criteria, daily prompt structure, entry format, follow-up interview guide, and an analysis framework for synthesizing entries into themes. It is designed for PMs and researchers running studies that last 5 to 14 days.

The Product Discovery Handbook covers the broader discovery process, including when diary studies fit versus other methods. For a complementary approach that observes users in their environment rather than asking them to self-report, see the Contextual Inquiry Template. If you need to quantify findings from your diary study, the Survey Design Framework can help you build a follow-up survey.

How to Use This Template

1. Define the behavior window. Decide what activities or moments you want participants to capture. Be specific: "every time you search for a report" is better than "whenever you use the product."
2. Set the study duration. Most diary studies run 5-14 days. Shorter for frequent behaviors, longer for weekly workflows.
3. Write your prompts. Create 3-5 structured prompts that take under 5 minutes to complete. Participants will abandon studies with long daily entries.
4. Recruit and brief participants. Walk each participant through the entry format, tools, and expectations before the study starts.
5. Monitor participation daily. Send reminders to participants who miss entries. Drop-off is the biggest risk in diary studies.
6. Conduct follow-up interviews. After the study period, interview each participant to probe interesting entries and fill gaps.
7. Synthesize entries. Use the analysis framework below to identify patterns across participants and time periods.

The Template

Section 1: Study Design

Section 2: Research Objectives

• ☐ Define 2-3 specific questions this diary study will answer
• ☐ Confirm that these questions require longitudinal data (not a single interview)
• ☐ Identify the decision this research will inform

Objectives:

1. [What pattern or behavior are you trying to understand over time?]
2. [What triggers, contexts, or emotional states surround that behavior?]
3. [How does the experience change across the study period?]

Section 3: Participant Criteria

• ☐ Set sample size: [6-12 participants recommended]
• ☐ Define incentive: [$X per completed entry or $Y for full study completion]
• ☐ Create screening questionnaire with 3-5 qualifying questions
• ☐ Plan for 20-30% over-recruitment to account for drop-off

Section 4: Entry Prompts

Design 3-5 prompts per entry. Each prompt should take 30-60 seconds to answer.

Daily Entry Format:

• ☐ Prompt 1 (Trigger): "What happened?" [Describe the moment/event in 1-2 sentences]
• ☐ Prompt 2 (Context): "Where were you and what were you doing?" [Physical/digital context]
• ☐ Prompt 3 (Emotion): "How did this make you feel?" [Scale 1-5 or open-ended]
• ☐ Prompt 4 (Action): "What did you do next?" [Workaround, tool switch, gave up, etc.]
• ☐ Prompt 5 (Screenshot/Photo): "Attach a photo or screenshot if relevant" [Optional]

Entry reminders:

• ☐ Set up automated daily reminders at [time]
• ☐ Prepare a personal follow-up message for participants who miss 2+ consecutive days
• ☐ Define the minimum number of entries required for a participant to be included in analysis: [e.g., 70% of expected entries]

Section 5: Monitoring and Engagement

• ☐ Create a tracking spreadsheet with participant ID, entries submitted, and notes
• ☐ Flag entries with rich detail for follow-up probing

Section 6: Follow-Up Interview Guide

Conduct a 20-30 minute interview with each participant after the study period ends.

Section 7: Analysis Framework

• ☐ Export all entries to a spreadsheet or analysis tool
• ☐ Code each entry with tags: behavior type, emotion, context, workaround
• ☐ Build a timeline view per participant showing entries across days
• ☐ Create an affinity map grouping entries by theme across all participants
• ☐ Calculate frequency: how many participants reported each theme?
• ☐ Identify temporal patterns: do behaviors change over the study period?

Findings Template:

Filled Example: Tracking Onboarding Friction Over Two Weeks

Study Design

Participant Criteria

Sample size: 10 participants. Incentive: $15 per entry, up to $150 total.

Entry Prompts (Example)

1. "What were you trying to do in the product right now?"
2. "What happened? Describe what you saw or experienced."
3. "How frustrated or satisfied are you? (1 = very frustrated, 5 = very satisfied)"
4. "What did you do next? (kept going, searched help docs, contacted support, gave up)"
5. "Screenshot (optional)"

Analysis Summary

Decision outcome. Redesign the setup wizard to surface value earlier. Add a separate onboarding path for invited teammates. Set customer success check-in at Day 3 instead of Day 7.

Key Takeaways

• Diary studies capture real experiences over time, filling gaps that interviews and usability tests miss
• Keep daily entries under 5 minutes to maintain participant engagement
• Over-recruit by 20-30% to account for inevitable drop-off
• Monitor participation daily and send personal follow-ups for missed entries
• Conduct follow-up interviews to probe interesting entries and uncover missing context
• Look for temporal patterns: how behaviors change across the study period, not just what happens

About This Template

Created by: Tim Adair

Last Updated: 3/4/2026

Version: 1.0.0

License: Free for personal and commercial use